Study: Americans aren’t saving nearly enough for retirement

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March 08, 2018

By Craig Johnson

Clark.com

We’ve always been taught to set a little money to the side each time we get paid for a rainy day. Many people do that by maintaining a savings account, an IRA or some other repository for stashing away cash for future needs.

No matter what the savings strategy, a recent study says that many of us aren’t putting away enough money. New figures from GoBankingRates.com show that 42% of Americans have less than $10,000 saved up.

Study: 42% of Americans have less than $10,000 in savings

The survey was conducted using three Google Consumer Surveys, according to GoBankingRates. The trio of surveys each targeted a different generation — baby boomers, Generation X and millennials — with about 1,000 respondents for each.

Because numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the average American over age 65 spends about $46,000 a year, the GoBankingRates study concluded that many of us are in financial trouble.

“If they don’t boost their savings, they’ll likely retire broke because that’s not enough to cover a year’s worth of expenses,” the study said.

Other highlights from the survey showed that:

14% of respondents said that they had zero savings

7% said they have between $10,000 and $49,999 saved

16% had $300,000 or more in retirement savings

And when it comes to gender, the study found that 45% of women reported having no savings whatsoever, while 40% of men said the same.

All that being said, there’s still hope for us in the post-working world. Research from money advisor Wes Moss shows that retirees don’t need millions in the bank and can do just fine on $82, 770 a year. The key to living comfortably during your later years is to have multiple revenue streams, including a pension or retirement account and maybe even a part-time job.